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Presentation on theme: "Music in the Third Reich"— Presentation transcript:

2What did music represent in the Third Reich?ThesisWhat did music represent in the Third Reich?

3APRIL 8, 1933 in Berlin“I can say with pride, comrades of the SA and SS, that if the whole German people now was possessed of the spirit which is in us and in you, then Germany would be indestructible. Even without arms, Germany would represent an unheard-of strength through this inner will tempered like steel.”-Adolf HitlerThis speech given by Hitler in 1933 embodies the great German feeling of pride.

4Aryan StandardsThe Nazi administration declared that all music created had to fit within certain standards defined as "good" German music.Restraint of individual artists and their works was universal and happened a lot, however musicians were allowed inadequate artistic autonomy.The Nazis tried to make a balance between suppression and creativity in music to mollify the German people.

5German CensorshipGifted musicians who were Loyal Nazis were guaranteed a jobNon Jews who were talented needed to be part of Reichsmusikkammer (Reich Music Chamber)

6Aryan SuperiorityThis strong musical tradition was used by Hitler to endorse Aryan dominance.His thoughts relating to music and art formed the cultural tone and political policies for all of Germany.All musical compositions made by Jews or by those alleged to be Jew sympathizers were expelled.Everything German had to show dominance and might.

7Aryan SuperiorityA very large number of artists and musicians were government employees, hired in various capacities to create and broadcast Aryan culture.By 1939, the RMK heads began to speak of the removal of the Jews from the cultural life of the people; some exceptions were made for concerts by famous Jews from various countries.

8Aryan SuperiorityJazz music was forbidden, they called it "non-Aryan Negroid." Direct Control and censorship of all radio broadcasts were applied, and only accepted nationalistic music was tolerable. All other music was banned and called "entarte" or degenerate.Hitler thought that Jazz was completely intolerable. Hitler needed to rid this type of music in order to manipulate his people. They could not think that this was acceptable music.

9Das Reich: 16 November 1941.The Jews are receiving a penalty that is certainly hard, but more than deserved. World Jewry erred in adding up the forces available to it for this war, and now is gradually experiencing the destruction that it planned for us, and would have carried out without a second thought if it had possessed the ability. It is perishing according its own law: ‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’ Joseph GoebbelsDas Reich was a weekly newspaper in Goebbels wrote the lead article every week. He attacks the Jews in this article.

10Aryan StandardsAccording to Hitler and Goebbels, the three best composers who symbolized superior German music were:Ludwig van BeethovenAnton BrucknerRichard WagnerAll three composers lived before the 20th century.

11Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)He said, "strength is the morality of the man who stands out from the rest."Hitler felt he was like Beethoven, possessing that heroic German spirit.Beethoven was so cherished by the German people that his music was unmatched by anyone else. Hitler thought he was a hero.

12Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) Considered himself a disciple of Wagner.Like Hitler, Bruckner had humble beginnings.Hitler thought he exemplified the people.

13Richard Wagner (1818-1883) Hitler’s favorite composerOften Hitler had Wagner's music performed at party rallies and functions.Wagner was the man above everyone that he thought exemplified this German spirit.

14Richard Wagner ( )Wagner's music was very serious and intense.Besides his powerful sound, Hitler was also enthralled by his political views.

15Wagner and Hitler’s SimilaritiesBoth men worried they had Jewish blood, which brought upon denial and hatred.Both were artists and politicians.Strongly believed Wagnerian art would save the world.

16Wagner and Hitler’s Belief SystemsRace is determined by appearance, language nationality and blood.Racial purity is the white Aryan race.Conscience is a Jewish evil.Hitler once wrote: “With the exception of Richard Wagner, I have no forerunner.”

17Wagner and Hitler’s Belief SystemsGermans are destined to rule over the inferior world.Germans were contaminated by Jews and most non-Germans.Extreme egocentrism

18Wagner's Influence on HitlerHitler's numerous prejudices cannot be completely recognized, However a mentor, follower relationship can be seen between the two.Wagner founded the Bayreuth festival. The Nazi party used it as a propaganda device against the Jews.Wagner lived in Bayreuth from Each summer, Wagner's operas are put on at the Festspielhaus during the month-long Richard Wagner Festival.

19The Bayreuth FestivalsDuring the 1920s, before the Third Reich came to power, Winifred Wagner became a devoted follower and close friend of Adolf Hitler. Winifred took over the festival when her husband died.Formed in 1876Maintained artistic independence when Winifred Wagner took over.

20The Bayreuth FestivalsEvery summer, Wagner's operas are performed at the Festspielhaus during the month-long Richard Wagner Festival,The Nazi party kept it running and used it as a propaganda tool.

21Wagner's Influence on HitlerWinifred Wagner and Hitler had an extremely close relationship.Winifred Met Hitler at the Bayreuth Festival in 1925.Festival became a highlight of the Nazi calendar.After the death of her husband Siegfried Wagner, Hitler proposed to her twice but was rejected.In Hitler’s mind the Wagner’s were part of his family.

22The Bayreuth FestivalsWagner’s Operas were extremely racist.These statements were made by Wagner in speeches he gave in Germany in the late 19th century.“All Jews should be burned at a performance of Nathan the Wise.{1}”“Only one thing can redeem you (Jews) from the burden of your curse: the redemption ofAhasverus -- total destruction.{2}”Aside from Wagner’s operas, He wrote numerous essay and gave speeches about race and politics. Hitler was a politician and a “would-be” artist and Wagner was a musician and a “would-be” politician.

23The Bayreuth FestivalsWhile the war was taking place the Nazi party sponsored operas for injured soldiers returning home.The men were foreced to attend lectures on Wagner before the performances.Although many found the festival to be repetitive as "guests of the führer," they kept their mouths shut.This is another example of how Hitler idolized Wagner and wanted his people to live by his code of ethics.

24Hitler’s Statements“By removing [Jewish] vermin, I don't necessarily mean destroying them . . .There are many ways, systematic,and comparatively painless, or at anyrate bloodless, of causing races to vanish…We may take systematic measures to dam their great natural fertility By doing this gradually and without bloodshed, we demonstrate our humanity.{5}”

25Das Judenthum in der MusikWagner expresses his hatred for Jewish music in this essay.This was published under a pseudonym in the Neue Zeitschrift Für Musik (NZM) of Leipzig (NZM) in September 1850Wagner asserts that the work was printed to: “explain to ourselves the involuntary repellence possessed for us by the nature and personality of the Jews, so as to vindicate that instinctive dislike which we plainly recognize as stronger and more overpowering than our conscious zeal to rid ourselves thereof.”This shows how much influenceTranslations from the work given below are from W. AshtonEllis’ 1894 version

26Triumph of WillA film made by Leni Riefenstahl, for Nazis, and about Nazis.Triumph of the Will was filmed by the German Propaganda Ministry in 1934 and covers the events of the Sixth Nuremburg Party Congress.Wagner’s music was used during the film. It shows how Wagner’s music was used to represent German Superiority.

27Triumph of WillThe original purpose was to document the early days of the NSDAP, so as future generations could look back and see how the Third Reich began.In actuality, Triump des Willens shows how the Nazi party controlled the state through propaganda and also howAdolf Hitler had a unique and terrifying ability to entice crowds to his beliefs by the very power of his words.

28“Degenerate Music”"I have at last learned the lesson that has been forced upon me during this year, and I shall not ever forget it. It is that I am not a German, not a European, indeed perhaps scarcely a human being (at least the Europeans prefer the worst of their race to me) but I am a Jew.“ Arnold Schoenberg

29“Degenerate Music”Berlin was at the spirit of the brave and original music trends of the Roaring Twenties.Musicians tested out this new jazz at clubs and cabarets. They drifted away from the old acceptable musical forms.

30“Degenerate Music”By 1933 Hitler and the Nazi party labeled the mentally ill, communists, Gypsies, homosexuals and Jews as subspecies of the human raceThey used the terms "Jewish," "Degenerate," and "Bolshevik" to depict all art and music not suitable for the Third Reich.The Third Reich thought any song not portraying Germany and the white aryan’s as the strongest people on the planet was “degenerate.”

31“Degenerate Music”This picture became a Nazi icon for all they measured "degenerate" in art.Hitler wanted all German culture to be rid of "morbid excrescencies of insane and degenerate men."

32Race Laws Nazi racial rules altered widely between 1933 and 1939.All of Germany divided into racial theory classes: the Volksgenossen (National Comrades), people who were part of the Volksgemeinschaft and Gemeinschaftsfremde (Community Aliens), people who were not part of the Volksgemeinschaft.

33Opportunities LostThe laws ended hundreds of gifted musicians careers and their work was purposely censored because of their race.An age of exceptional musicians were barred from their place in music history.

34Completion of The ReichsmusikkammerFinished in 1940Included all Musicians race and religionJews who escaped could be easily tracked

35Worst DegeneratesThese Jewish and Catholic composers were most hated by the Third Reich:Berthold Goldschmidt ( )Otto Klemperer ( )Ernst Krenek ( )Erik Korngold ( )Arnold Schoenberg ( )Bruno Walter ( )They were all forced to leave their homes and search for a land that accepted their music and lifestyle. Mostly the U.S.

36Berthold Goldschmidt (1903-1996)A famous Jewish composer and conductor in Germany.He experienced persecution as a Jew even before Hitler came to power.He escaped to England in 1935.

37Otto Klemperer )Became a leading German conductor in his generation.After conducting Tannhäser in 1933 on the 50th anniversary of Wagner's death, he fled to the U.S to get away from Nazi harassment.

38Ernst Krenek ( )He was a respectable German Catholic until he wrote a modern opera called Jonny Spielt Auf.It featured a black man as the central character. It was a musical mix of jazz, spiritual, and classical.

39Erik Korngold (1897-1957) Jewish child prodigy born in Austria1934 began writing music for Hollywood filmsNazi’s seized his Austrian home in 1938

40Arnold Schoenberg ( )Emigrated to U.S. right when Hitler came to powerHe anticipated the destruction of the Jews.Tried to tell public that Hitler was dangerous and that the anti-Semitism needed to be stopped.

41Bruno Walter (1876-1962) Born Bruno Walter Schlesinger.He was the conductor of the Leipzig Orchestra and regularly Berlin orchestra.Third Reich canceled his concerts, he fled to U.S.

45BibliographyGoebbels, Joseph. "The Jews are Guilty!" German Propaganda Archive June 2006Goebbels, Joseph. "The Racial Question and World Propaganda." German Propaganda Archive June 2006 <http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/goeb41.htm>.Hamann, Brigitte. "Winifred Wagner a Life At the Heart of Hitler's Bayreuth." Granta. 6 June Granta Publications. 25 May 2006 <http://www.granta.com/shop/product?usca_p=t&product_id=2400>.Jazz Institute Berlin. 1 June 2006 <http://www.jazz-institut-berlin.de/>.

47Bibliography"Music of the Camps and Ghettos." A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust May 2006 <http://fcit.usf.edu/HOLOCAUST/arts/musVicti.htm>."Music of the Holocaust." A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust May 2006 <http://fcit.usf.edu/HOLOCAUST/arts/music.htm>."MéDailles D'Or." Galerie Des Grands Criminels Dans L’Histoire De L’Humanité May 2006 <http://www.coranix.com/killers.htm>."Otto Klempler's English Site." Syuzo June 2006 <http://www.syuzo.com/klemperer/klemperer.html>.

48Bibliography"Person of the Year." TIME June 2006 <http://www.time.com/time/personoftheyear/archive/photohistory/hitler.html>."Photos of and Relating to Alban Berg." 1 June 2006 <http://www.geocities.com/al6an6erg/pics.html>."Politbiographische Typologien Von Komponisten Und Musikern Im Nationalsozialismus." KüNstlerprofile June 2006 <http://www.presse.uni-wuppertal.de/archiv/output/okt98/kuenstlerprofile.html>.